College Realignment V.2

By Rick Horrow and Karla Swatek

November 26, 2012

College sports could be dealing with another chaotic sequence of conference realignment after Maryland and Rutgers announced moves to the Big Ten.An unnamed major-conference AD toldUSA Todaythe moves would force a lot of school’s to “start looking over their shoulders again.”In leaving for the Big Ten, Maryland must pay the ACC a $50 million buyout.Rutgers is hoping its buyout will be between $10-20 million.Both Maryland and Rutgers were targeted for expansion with the hope of expanding the carriage of the Big Ten Network in the New York and DC media markets.

Given Rutgers’ inevitable Big East departure, Boise State, San Diego State, and BYU reportedly are considering moving back to the Mountain West Conference.Needless to say, it’ll only get more complicated and confusing.

If there’s one positive that comes out of another round of conference realignment, it’s that the move to the Big Ten could give Maryland enough money to reinstate previously discontinued varsity teams.The seven sports teams were eliminated earlier this year to close a budget deficit.